iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. They’re some of the most powerful tools ever made for learning, exploring, and staying in touch. Parents love them. Kids love them. And we’re continually designing new features to help make sure kids use them in the ways you want.
Friday, July 24, 2015 Mac apps, Mac typing apps July 23, 2015 We have already shared several posts in the past featuring a plethora of web tools and apps to help kids (and adults) learn fast typing.
Screen Time gives you a better understanding of the time you and your kids spend using apps, visiting websites, and on your devices overall. You can get weekly reports or see specific app usage, notifications, and device pickups.
Screen Time also lets you set the amount of time you and your kids can spend each day on specific apps and websites. You can create exceptions for specific apps, like Messages or education apps, and kids can always request more time for you to approve.
With Downtime, you can set a specific time, like bedtime, when apps and notifications are blocked. You can choose which apps are on and off limits.
The Kids section is carefully curated to be a great space for children. And we review every app to make sure it does what it says it does. In Restrictions, you can also tap an age range and, just like that, your kids can buy or download only apps appropriate for them — including curated recommendations.
If you want to, you can prevent kids from installing new apps, like social media or photo sharing — or even turn off the Safari web browser. Enable Ask to Buy, and you can approve or decline their app purchases and downloads right from your device.
With Combined Limits, you can combine individual apps and websites, and even whole categories, into a single, easy-to-manage limit. Set a limit for a group of apps and websites, like games or your kids’ favorite streaming apps.
Communication Limits let you choose who your children can communicate with throughout the day and during downtime, so you can make sure they’re always reachable.
You can set up your kids’ devices to limit adult content or open only websites that you select. You can also install special web browsers that are designed to display kid-friendly content and nothing else.
Give your kids an extra minute to wrap up what they’re doing. They’ll get a notification when they’ve reached their time limit, so they can quickly wrap up a conversation, save a file, or close a game session before their time runs out.
With a few taps you can keep your kids from accessing movies, TV shows, music, music videos, apps, books, or podcasts that contain things you don’t want them to see or hear.
Many apps, even free apps, allow (or encourage) purchases within the app itself. A setting in Restrictions lets you block all in‑app purchases automatically.
The Find My app enables offline, Wi-Fi–enabled devices to send out Bluetooth signals that can be detected by other Apple devices in use nearby. They can then relay the detected location of your missing device to iCloud so you can locate it in the app.
Easily locate friends and family members to stay coordinated and keep kids safe. Using the People tab, you can invite friends to share a location or automatically receive location-based alerts — like when your child leaves school. Parents can even manage how their kids share locations.
The process is anonymous and encrypted end-to-end so no one, including Apple, knows the identity of any reporting device. And because the reporting happens silently using tiny bits of data that piggyback on existing network traffic, there’s no need to worry about your battery life, your data usage, or your privacy.
The first step to sharing is making sure each family member has an Apple ID. That way you all have your own private logins, and everyone’s info stays separate. It’s fast and easy — parents can even set one up for kids under 13.
No one should be distracted by the phone while driving. With Do Not Disturb While Driving, iPhone won’t interrupt you with messages, calls, or notifications until you reach your destination. In an emergency, callers can override it and get through.
Apple Watch offers a fun way for everyone to get fit and stay fit: Introduce a little daily competition to see who can close their Stand, Move, and Exercise rings first. And the winner is…your whole family.
Research has shown that exposure to blue light before bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep. Night Shift automatically changes the display to a warmer hue when the sun goes down.
Set up iPhone or iPad to tell you and your kids when it’s bedtime and wake you with customized alarms — which might save a few “time to get up” visits to their bedrooms. And you can all track your sleep over time with daily, weekly, and monthly summaries.
Do Not Disturb eliminates distractions from calls and notifications for a specified period of time. It’s a great way to keep your kids from getting interrupted when they’re sleeping or doing homework. If you need to get through in an emergency, you can.
On iPhone and Apple Watch, emergency personnel can quickly access a Medical ID with important information like allergies, blood type, emergency contacts, and more.
If you need help, ask Siri to call 911 or your emergency contact. You can also enable your iPhone and Apple Watch to automatically dial emergency services with a press or a few taps.
Even if your children don’t have their iPhone at school, you can still reach them in an emergency if they’re wearing an Apple Watch with cellular.
We design products for everybody, including people with disabilities. In fact, every device we make offers a wide range of innovative tools that help people of all abilities create, explore, stay in shape, and communicate.
Get help when you need it most. When you call 911 with your iPhone, you can automatically and securely share your location with first responders.
So much personal data lives on your family’s devices. That’s why we’ve designed our hardware and software to keep this information private. Touch ID and Face ID, for example, are two of the most advanced security technologies on personal devices. We’ve also made it easy for parents to set privacy controls on their kids’ devices.
Our commitment to families doesn’t stop at your front door. Apple devices expand what’s possible in the classroom, and apps like Classroom help teachers keep students on track. Educators have access to many of the same controls you do. And Apple doesn’t use your kids’ information to create a profile or market to them.
Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that makes learning Swift interactive and fun. It requires no coding knowledge, so it’s perfect for students just starting out. Solve puzzles to master the basics using Swift — a powerful programming language created by Apple and used by the pros to build today’s most popular apps. Then take on a series of challenges and step up to more advanced playgrounds designed by Apple and other leading developers.
Robots and drones await your commands.
Now you can make robots do incredible things with code you write yourself. Learn to program connected devices like the Sphero SPRK+, LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3, and drones by Parrot, and watch them come alive right before your eyes.
Learning to code with Swift Playgrounds is incredibly engaging. The app comes with a complete set of Apple-designed lessons. Play your way through the basics in “Fundamentals of Swift” using real code to guide a character through a 3D world. Then move on to more advanced concepts.
What you see is what you code: Create code on the left side of your screen and instantly see the results on the right — with just a tap.
Starting with the “Fundamentals of Swift” lesson, you’ll tackle goals using the same code professional developers use every day. As you move along, more advanced concepts come into play. You’ll continually build on what you’ve learned and create even more complex code.
You’ll start out by learning the important concepts you need to understand code.
Commands
Functions
Loops
Parameters
Conditional Code
Variables
Operators
Types
Initialization
Bug Fixing
In addition to the built-in library of lessons, Swift Playgrounds includes a collection of extra challenges — with new ones added over time. Go deeper on a topic you’ve already studied or try your hand at something new. You’re not just building fun creations, you’re building your skills, too.
Discover dozens of channels with fun new challenges created by leading developers and publishers. Subscribe to your favorites and you’ll receive their latest creations right in the app. Now there are no bounds to your playgrounds.
Easily drag braces around code, wrap existing code in a loop, or choose from dozens of drag-and-drop snippets included in Swift Playgrounds — right from your iPad or Mac. Take full advantage of powerful Multi-Touch, multitasking, and split view capabilities on iPad. Also, enjoy the view from your Mac. The larger screen makes room for a new sidebar with a complete table of contents and quick access to other Swift files. Just tap, drag, or type text and numbers. Then interact with what you’ve created.
Write an entire line of code with just a tap. With QuickType for code, the Shortcut Bar automatically and intelligently suggests commands as you go. When typing is the best option, iPad has an innovative keyboard designed for coding. Simply touch a key to access multiple characters, then drag to choose the one you want. Experience similar code suggestions on Mac, which comes with even more help to complete your code.
Quickly drag commonly used pieces of code from the Snippets Library to minimize typing.
Conveniently drag the boundaries of a statement around existing code.
If you come across a command that’s hard to understand, simply tap it and hold. A menu of options will appear. Choose the most relevant one and get the answer you need.
Clean My Mac: Best App to Clear Cache & Uninstall Apps on Mac CleanMyMac app is used for cleaning the hard drive from junk files and also for defragmenting your Mac. The app is also useful to clean or defragment the Mac drive, but this option will be selected by default. App cache cleaner mac. Clearing the System Cache: Close as many open programs as possible. Open programs use files. Not all app cache can be safely cleared. Some app developers keep important user info on cache folders. Backing up a folder before you delete is always a good idea. If everything works fine then you can delete the backup later. To be on the safe side, use CleanMyMac, it works with a Safety Database and knows how to clear app cache safely. As if that wasn’t enough it will also remove more junk than manual.
Use what you’ve learned to create something brand new. With Starting Points, you can get a head start on more advanced coding, add multiple files to your playground at once, and use iPad features such as Multi-Touch interactions, accelerometer, and gyroscope. Personalize your project by adding graphics, audio, and more. Then easily share with friends, family, or the world. Students can also share code with classmates when teachers use Starting Points to create lessons.
Immerse yourself by using the vivid Retina displays of iPad or Mac. Simply tap the center divider, then drag to view your code or live project on the full screen. You can also customize built-in games like Battleship and Brick Breaker, then immerse yourself by letting them take up the whole screen.
Watch your code spring to life by programming real robots, musical instruments, and drones. The Accessories channel is filled with engaging playgrounds that let you configure and control popular educational toys like LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3. And that’s just the beginning.
Sphero playgrounds let you guide this spherical robot through tricky courses, accelerate over jumps, and change colors.
Dash playgrounds challenge you to make it sing, dance and respond to sensor inputs to react to their environment.
MeeBot playgrounds guide you through coding Jimu Robot Meebot’s six robotic servo motors to make him move in lifelike ways. Or even dance.
Tello EDU playgrounds let you command multiple Tello drones to fly in a swarm, perform flips and other acrobatic movements, and push the limits of your creativity.
Explore robots, drones, and many other connected devices that support Swift Playgrounds.